PIONEEREDGE NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) arrested Shadab Hussain, a resident of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, from Jamia Nagar in Delhi for allegedly duping a Dehradun resident of Rs 7.39 crore through an online investment fraud.
The deputy superintendent of police of cyber crime police station of STF Ankush Mishra stated the accused used WhatsApp with international numbers, fake profiles and forged documents to lure victims into investment groups. He informed that the accused added the complainant to groups named M2-Wealth Secrets Exchange Group and Disciple Team, where members were persuaded to invest in IPOs and trading through an app called Cantillon.App.
The victim was asked to register using Aadhaar details and then directed to deposit money into multiple bank accounts. The DSP stated that between July 22 and August 20 this year, the complainant transferred about Rs 7.39 crore into 15 bank accounts. The app showed high returns on investment but when the victim tried to withdraw Rs five crore, the accused demanded an additional Rs three crore as tax.
Mishra said that during the investigation, STF found that Hussain operated with multiple fake identities and used international WhatsApp numbers to contact victims. The accused allegedly coordinated the fraud with others posing as representatives of Cantillon Capital Management and used fabricated SEBI certificates to gain trust.
Mishra said that two mobile phones were recovered from Hussain. Preliminary investigation revealed his bank accounts were used for transactions worth several crores within days. There are also 33 cybercrime complaints registered against his accounts in different states and four FIRs have surfaced so far. The investigation is ongoing, the DSP said.
